One week milestone

On Wednesday, I rode the bus for the first time and that was an experience.
I had orientation at school and it was my first time in campus. Fatma told me what bus to take, so I rode the metro to Sisli and found the correct exit up to civilization. :)
The bus system here is somewhat chaotic. I only knew I was in the correct place because a bunch of buses seem to randomly stop there. I just sat and watched for a while. The bus pulls up, the doors open, people stream off and then stream on. The buses are often very crowded. The driver will be pulling away and people are still trying to get on. Sometimes the bus is so crowded, people are standing on the steps that lead up to the driver's seat.
I finally worked up the nerve to get on the one I needed, 59R. I stepped on and asked the driver "Bogazici?" He looked at me like I was speaking Swahili. At first he told me No and I thought ok, what's going on? So this very nice looking, very well dressed young man who was sitting in the seat closest to the door started speaking to him in Turkish and after some deliberation, he told me "Yes" in English.
It turns out that the bus does a little loop around the station before it heads the opposite direction to Bogazici and I think that is why the driver told me No initially. Thank God the nice guy was there to help me, because I probably would have gotten off and gave up and just went home.
I think the lack of order caused me some anxiety. I rode the bus for years before I started driving, so it wasn't new to me. But the buses in Napa are a little different. ;)

The driver does not call out the stops and there isn't a recording that plays or anything. It seems that you just need to know where your stop is. So we putzed along and I saw a very official looking entrance with the little booths and a big sign that Bogazici University. I got off the the bus and started walking.

And I walked. And I walked. This part of campus is up on a high part of the city and you have to walk down this windy road to get to the buildings. I got down to something that sort of resembles a quad. I saw a short line forming on the steps of one of the buildings. I walked over and asked someone and found out that I happened to be in the right place.
This was just not well thought out. There were no signs or notices or anything saying "Orientation Students - Follow this path!"
All they did at orientation was tell us about important dates (registration, add/drop etc.), took questions, and a couple of students talked about all the different clubs and specific groups for the exchange students.
I am not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn't it.
I talked to a couple of very young American girls who are at Bogazici because they were evacuated from Cairo. They didn't seem too concerned about this. :)
I'm reluctant to say that in general, the Americans I observed all seemed like preppy snotty undergrads in their sweaters and skinny jeans and boots, who asked stupid questions and laughed at the accents of the school admins when they were speaking. Someone needs to smack them. I am so glad I am not staying in the dorms, because they put all the international students together and I would be stuck with these people.

There was a dinner after orientation (15 lira a person, a rip-off), but I didn't go. I got some chips and juice at a little shop across from the bus station and rode back to the Metro. A little boy got on the bus with an older woman and he sat down next to me. I smiled at him and held the bag chips down so he could reach and he took one. This was my effort for American/Turkish relations that day. :)

On Thursday I stayed in the flat for most of the day and went out in the evening to Carrefour.

On Friday I went back to Cevahir and got some new stuff for my room. I went to Koctas, the Turkish Home Depot and got a rug, a lamp, and a curtain. I found another shop that had a ton of bedding, towels, etc. and picked out a very cute bed set and a couple of pillows. I am very pleased with my purchases. The bed set has a big poppy pattern and it really brightened up the room. It was a bit of a chore hauling all those bags back to the flat, but I managed.

Today I think I will go to Taksim for the first time. Taksim is the big shopping/eating/touristy area in Istanbul.
I was hoping to get in some travel before classes begin, but it turns out that I can't leave the country until I get my residence permit, or my student visa is basically voided. So I am stuck here in Turkey. :)